Here is a picture taken at the VIP event at Pearl Street Grill in Indianapolis.

Live Tweeting the Big Ten Tourney Games

Before I get started about the live Tweeting, allow me to introduce myself – I’m Mike Mardis. Because I am an avid sports fan and social media junkie, I was sent by InterCall (full disclosure – by whom I am employed) to live Tweet the Big Ten Tournament.

This is me on the first day of the tournament entering Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Day One – Illinois, Ohio State, Minnesota, and Northwestern Advance

Day one saw Indiana University fall to the University of Illinois in the first game of the tournament by a score of 64-54. The game was closer than the final score indicates. The Hoosiers were only down one point with 2:00 to go in the game. But, the Illini hit a few shots while IU went cold.

Game two came down to the wire as the Ohio State Buckeyes squeaked out a victory over the Purdue Boilermakers by a score of 63-61. The Buckeye faithful were loud (as they always are) and it was an exciting game – a sign of things to come.

The next game saw the Minessota Golden Gophers advance past the Penn State Nittany Lions with ease.

Up until this point, there were no real surprises in the Big Ten Tournament. But, that was about to change as Chicago’s own Northwestern Wildcats took down the Iowa Hawkeyes 67-62.

Day Two – Top 4 seeds in action. Spartans flex their muscles.

Day two of the tournament started off with another great game that came down to the wire, The number one seeded Michigan Wolverines made their tournament debut and nearly made a quick exit at the hands of the Illini. Illinois had a shot at the buzzer to beat Michigan, but Tracy Abrams came up short and the Wolverines survived.

Next up was we saw the Nebraska Cornhuskers take on the Ohio State Buckeyes. The Buckeyes grabbed another close victory (71-67) on the back of LaQuinton Ross who put up 26 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. It was the last exciting game of the day, however.

The next two games saw the Wisconsin Badgers rout Minnesota and The Michigan State Spartans bullied Northwestern in the late game 67-51.

The Big Ten Tournament final four was set – Michigan v. Ohio State and Wisconsin v. Michigan State.

Day three – Michigan over Buckeyes. Spartans keep rolling.

Day three was the semi-finals of the Big Ten Tournament and Bankers Life Fieldhouse was electric. The first game featured one of the best rivalries in all of college sports – Michigan v. Ohio State.

Michigan pulled out to an early lead, but Ohio State battled back to eventually get within striking distance at the end of the game. In the end, it was free throws that killed the Buckeyes. Michigan pulled out the 72-69 win to advance to the final.

In the second semi-final game the number two seed Badgers of Wisconsin took on the number three seed Spartans of Michigan State. It was a showdown of two of the best mascots in the Big Ten.

The Spartans built a massive lead behind one of the best 20:00 of basketball a single team can play in the first half. Michigan State lead the Badgers 43-26 at halftime in what looked like a blowout.

But, as Badgers tend to do when cornered, Wisconsin fought back in the second half. Behind a 28-point performance by Frank Kominsky, Wisconsin cut the Spartan’s lead to 7 at one point. But, they would never get any closer as Michigan State won comfortably 83-75. It was a complete team effort by the Spartans as six players finished the game with double digit scoring efforts.

Day four – Michigan State v. Michigan for the title.

The final day of the tournament saw an all-Michigan Big Ten Conference Tournament final. The one seed Michigan was set to take on in-state rivals and three seed Michigan State.

The crowd was intense and loud. It felt like March in NCAA basketball. Too bad the game wasn’t much of a contest. Michigan had beaten the Spartans twice in the regular season. But, come tournament time Tom Izzo has his men ready to play.

It’s difficult to beat any team three times in one year. But, it’s nearly impossible to beat a team as good as Michigan State three times in one year. The Spartans dominated the game from tip to final buzzer. Michigan never made it interesting.

Michigan State took the 2014 Big Ten Conference Tournament title 69-55 over Michigan.